yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Motorola Photon 4G] Brooose:
So once the file is extracted, the SSH stuff can be done in the comfort of your own home?
[Motorola Photon 4G] bane449:
Yep! It doesn't require the 'adas' user to do anything further.
[Motorola Photon 4G] Brooose:
Looks like I will be off to the Sprint store to "try" the HD Dock today.
[Motorola Photon 4G] car_lost:
Once the phone is rooted, how do we UN-root?
[Motorola Photon 4G] Lokifish Marz:
Why would you want to do that?
[Motorola Photon 4G] car_lost:
In case anything I do as a result of the root bricks the phone or messes something up. I'd wanna know how to return the phone to stock.
[Motorola Photon 4G] bane449:
Unrooting is just deleting the /system/bin/su file and uninstalling the Superuser application. Nothing else is altered.
[Motorola Photon 4G] car_lost:
That's simple enough. Now, to find a Sprint store that has the damn dock in stock.
[Motorola Photon 4G] twospirits:
Well when i bought the dock yesterday they had a photon all set up on with keyboard and mouse. Couldn't tell if the phone was detachable from the dock.

That is awesome and ingenious all at the same time.

I can see it now...

ME: (Go to Sprint store, hook up photon to dock)

CS: Can i help you today sir,

ME: ummm No thank you, i just want to see if the webtop works on certain sites and if it allows me to download files directly to my phone, I heard that it can't so i am testing it myself.

CS: What sites are you looking at

ME: Oh nothing special just downloading files to root my phone

CS: Excuse me,

ME: (download complete, unhook phone, and say thanks and walk out.)

CS: has that deer in headlights look

lol Awesome

TS out
[Motorola Photon 4G] tylerl:
The rooting pilgrimage to the Sprint store was successful. Total elapsed time: 180 seconds.

Install connectbot and superuser before heading over to the sprint store.

Saunter over to the dock, plug in your phone. Select webtop, and wait for it to set up and load. Firefox will automatically launch.

I created a tinyurl for the download that would be easier to remember: tinyurl.com/photonroot

Download, extract to /var/tmp, and you're free to take your phone out of the dock. You can leave the store now if you're in a hurry.

Fire up connectbot, and select "local" from the dropdown on the left, and hit return to start the session.

Type: /var/tmp/pulse/pa_race

You're now staring at a root prompt.

Type: /var/tmp/pulse/install-su.sh

Persistent root now installed

Type: rm -rf /var/tmp/pulse

Evidence now deleted

Start the Superuser application -- it should tell you that it's going to update the su binary. That's fine. Now, go install something interesting like Wifi Tether.
[Motorola Photon 4G] manekineko:
Great, thanks for the update.

I'm a little confused now, though. How was the webtop interface exploited? Are you sure you can disconnect the webtop before calling pa_race?
[Motorola Photon 4G] John Kotches:
That was far too easy.

I'm actually disappointed that the dock seems to limit you to 1280x1024 and a 4:3 aspect ratio for webtop.

I'm scratching my head about two things with that:

1) Displays most likely to have an HDMI or DVI input are 16:9 or 16:10

2) Why limit the resolution when the HDMI output without webtop is supposed to be capable of 1080p.
[Motorola Photon 4G] tylerl:
I thought about this too. Here are a few possibilities:

The first time i connected to the doc, it took significantly longer -- presumably to set up the webtop partition. Perhaps that has to be in place.

After disconnecting from the dock, some remnants of webtop were still running. That might be the key.

Or, perhaps it's just a way of getting the binary onto the device, since the phone's primary browser won't download (or extract) tar files, /var/tmp is not world-writable, and most partitions are mounted with noexec.
[Motorola Photon 4G] bane449:
manekineko:

tylerl is correct, in that Webtop is needed because the Linux user that runs Webtop has access to write to /var/tmp, which is on the /osh partition and all that we use Webtop for is to get the files extracted to that partition with the proper permissions. The exploit needs to reside on the /osh partition to work properly.

John Kotches:

The maximum resolution that Webtop gives you by default is 1280x1024, it'll do 1280x720 (720p) without any trouble, which is 16:9. I use Webtop at work now, on one of my 1280x1024 monitors, which is working out great. If you want higher resolution, you can currently use the same Atrix hack here to do 1080p:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1198230
[Motorola Photon 4G] ig88b:
I also did this today. The only hiccup I had was that the keyboard they had was the moto bluetooth keyboard, so I had to pair that to my phone. Otherwise, it went perfectly.
[Motorola Photon 4G] John Kotches:
Bane,

I must be missing a critical piece. I made the mods suggested and still get three 4x3 options

800x600

1024x768

1280x1024

All of these are @ 60 Hz.

When I run the final command, (xrandr -s 1920x1080) I get "no display".

I'll post over there as this discussion is orthogonal to the work at hand.
[Motorola Photon 4G] twospirits:
It was kind of hard to do this without a keyboard and mouse (both on order), :o but I got this finally done.

@ edgan

thanks and donation sent. :D

TS out
[Motorola Photon 4G] bane449:
John Kotches: I figure the problem might be what terminal you're entering this in; if you're acting as any user other than 'adas' inside webtop you'll need to specify the DISPLAY and XAUTHORITY variables. Thus it'll work automatically if you've got lxterminal installed and are running it from within webtop.

Otherwise first find the name of the authority file:

ls /tmp/serverauth.*

In this case, mine is currently /tmp/serverauth.XXXXPpuxPp, but it's randomized each time.

Then

DISPLAY=:0 XAUTHORITY=/tmp/serverauth.XXXXPpuxPp xrandr -s 1920x1080

And it should work :D
[Motorola Photon 4G] John Kotches:
bane:

I tried setting the display to :0, but missed the XAUTH entry.

Let me see what happens.

We have a winner.

That is crisp on my 21.5" monitor.
[Motorola Photon 4G] starcastic:
I'm not sure what specifically it is about the dock that has it locked down as the only way to launch webtop, however hopefully someone will follow the logical progression towards enabling it to be launched/run via cables only, no need for a dock like was done with the Atrix. That would also make rooting a lot simpler, assuming you dont already need to be rooted to run Webtop without the dock.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=980193
[Motorola Photon 4G] horn34:
So what are some cool apps that require root access? I've already got wireless tether installed.
[Motorola Photon 4G] John Kotches:
Titanium Backup is a good app to backup and restore apps/data.
[Motorola Photon 4G] starcastic:
Sorry, can someone clarify: Does this just run a discrete Linux instance when you plug into the HD dock (like the Atrix) with just Firefox like in the the video and a few other things...or does it allow true remote control of the phone with video mirroring i.e. just like i'm holding it in my hand but with real keyboard/mouse input devices?
[Motorola Photon 4G] bane449:
starcastic: yes to both
[Motorola Photon 4G] starcastic:
Hmm, thanks; it just seemed as if those two options would be an either/or, not both. I was just tryign to determine if theres an installation embedded in the dock or if its purely connections. GUess I'll just have to go buy one today and fiddle with it before returning.
[Motorola Photon 4G] tylerl:
I don't think it launches a completely different kernel instance -- that seems unnecessary and restrictive, but it certainly could. It definitely launches a separate linux environment with X, etc. from a separate partition, as opposed to simply the Android UI that the phone displays. And the normal android apps DO show up on the new desktop inside discreet windows. I don't know the technical details of how this is accomplished, but I can think of a few ways you could do it.
[Motorola Photon 4G] John Kotches:
And mobile view lets you run any of the apps on the android instance that is your phone.

Now I have to learn how to add stuff to the webtop desktop. More learning, but as an old unix admin it's fairly easy.
[Motorola Photon 4G] John Kotches:
bane:

Thanks for your help last night. Today I added the code to the adas user's .profile so it kicks off in 1920x1080 mode automatically.

Super sweet.
[Motorola Photon 4G] ZELL22:
Photon is now rooted. Big thanks for this, I can now tether to my Acer Iconia tablet again.
[Motorola Photon 4G] Beknatok:
Aaaaand now I'm rooted on MR3 now. Whee!

Thank you again Edgan and everyone else who helped out. I look forward to contributing myself, now that I have my own Photon.
[Motorola Photon 4G] starcastic:
For whatever reason ever since I rooted the charging indicator LED doesnt light when plugged in. The phone shows as charging as far as the icon on-screen is concerned but no orange LED. Weird.

Aside from that, rooting worked great, thanks to all for the info. Guess I'll return the dock after doing the Webtop over HDMI hack.
[Motorola Photon 4G] bricky23:
The led doesn't light up even if you aren't rooted. At least not on my phone.
[Motorola Photon 4G] ericdabbs:
This is a known issue and should be addressed in a future update, hopefully the maintenance release update.
[Motorola Photon 4G] Brooose:
I did the whirlwind tour of the Sprint Store. I had to use the on screen keyboard on the phone and ran Webtop using the store's dock. Thanks, Tylerl, for the connectbot instructions. After I extracted the pulse.tar in store, I finished the root in the parking lot :D
[Motorola Photon 4G] speedy2slow:
Went to my local Sprint store today, I had to wait in line to use the HD Dock LOL, 2 other people were using the dock to root their phones.

I finished up @ home. Thanks!
[Motorola Photon 4G] mindcanal:
Thanks

I also went to the Sprint Store this weekend to root my phone. Worked great. Although my semi-racey backgrounds prompted a mother to scold me for "exposing her children to such things." LOL :rolleyes:
[Motorola Photon 4G] RickNY1971:
I believe its intentional, according to the user manual:

Your phone has a light that blinks whenever you receive voicemail, email, text

message, have an appointment, Bluetooth is in use, or your battery is low.

Light Status Indication

Flashing green: New notification.

Solid white: Low battery, charging.

Flashing red: Low battery.

Flashing blue: Bluetooth in use.
[Motorola Photon 4G] sandtiger:
No Blue LED for Bluetooth activity or Charging LED on my stock photon
[Motorola Photon 4G] FrameCityJackal:
I couldn't root my phone the Sprint store I go to had the dock locked down with the phone on it :/

I feel weird without root lol
[Motorola Photon 4G] bricky23:
I tried going to the sprint store. The dock was bad because some kid tried jamming the store phone on it, and bent the connectors. Brat. Lol. Going tomorrow to buy the dock 25% off. I want it for home anyway.
[Motorola Photon 4G] bricky23:
So I was in the Atrix forum, and saw that they have the boot loader unlocked, cmw, and root. Will this help to get the photon boot loader unlocked? Or does it not work the same way?
[Motorola Photon 4G] Custodian:
Lol...tragic....ay bricky!
[Motorola Photon 4G] eoliveira711:
ADB ROOT

So i just got the photon today an wana root it :D It has a 30day manuf warranty an i tend to put that to good use hehe. What im trying to say is im willing to try this root method but thru adb. If theres ne1 out there that can give me a step by step... if any... Im willing to try it for the sake of rooting :D:D
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
really? i don't mean to sound like a prick but did you just skim the title of the thread and pounce on the quick reply button? the step by step instructions are right in the first post of this thread...Ugh!

Steps:

1. Install Superuser from the Market

2. Install SSHDroid from the Market

3. Open SSHDroid, and make sure it is listening on port 2222

4. Connect Photon to HD Station

5. Connect HDMI to HD Station and TV/Monitor

6. Turn TV/Monitor on

7. Change TV/Monitor input to HDMI

8. Open Firefox in webtop

9. Go to http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/pulse.tar

10. Open it instead of saving

11. Extract pulse.tar to /var/tmp

12. Connect to phone via ssh at ip address mentioned in SSHDroid and port 2222

13. Type /var/tmp/pulse/pa_race

14. Type /var/tmp/pulse/install-su.sh

15. Type rm -rf /var/tmp/pulse*
[Motorola Photon 4G] nganto:
newbie question:

- it should be using hd station exclusively for photon, or is it possible to use another model docking or even a microusb-hdmi cable?

- can we use mail? attach the exploit and extract it?

thanks
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
Requirements:

HD Station

Sprint Photon

HDMI cable that came with HD Station

Monitor or TV with open HDMI port

Wifi connection on the phone

Computer with network access to the phone
[Motorola Photon 4G] kiwiBeans:
So I hadn't read this thread before today - just skimmed the first post enough to know I needed a dock and the last page to realize it might be something I could do in store. I actually went to a Sprint store with the intention of buying the dock and found myself in front of the dock display / set up that didn't work because someone bent the adapter pins. it took me a few minutes of bending with my bare fingers but I fixed it enough to get the display phone on there and working. That's when I realized the store was packed full and no one was paying attention or helping me.

I fired up this thread on the display phone and followed the directions, eventually getting my phone on the dock. However, I got completely stuck after downloading the file (I chose open instead of saving, as instructed) and the download window showed the completed download. Then I was stumped - I had no idea how to "extract to /var/tmp". At that point people were gathering around me trying to use the dock so I disconnected hoping I had gotten far enough to finish at home.

Go figure, I didn't (ONE step short!?). Can anyone help me out with this step? I'm sure I'll find a way to get into a store again some time soon and since I've gotten this far I should be able to just connect and do the extraction (fairly quickly, I hope) and then finish the rest on my own.

Thanks for the help!
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
go back to the original post
[Motorola Photon 4G] eoliveira711:
Wow really. Yes i read the op. An in it it says ot hsnt been tried with adb. I thought this was a community?! Why am i gettin flammed for tryin to establish an easier cheaper way to root!

Sent from my Phony Droid
[Motorola Photon 4G] kiwiBeans:
You're right - my bad. I read the original post on the display Photon in the store in a hurry. Missed the video, etc. Now I see how you do it. Damn - I was right there...
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
gotta have fast fingers when in the store typically they're like vultures...
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
it hasn't been tried with adb because it cant be done...don't you think a solution other than this would have been posted? time the time to actually read the entire post before thinking you know what you're talking about...especially when you're talking to others that do...it's called respect and in a community such as this...it goes a long way.
[Motorola Photon 4G] kiwiBeans:
Since I've already downloaded the TAR file is there a way that I can get to it quickly the next time I connect via the dock? I remember when I was clicking around trying to extract the file that in the Firefox download window I right clicked the file and chose to open the containing folder - but I can't remember where it was much less how I'd navigate to it again.

Would it be easier to just go to the download address again and re-download the tar file? Since it's already there it's probably going to be renamed pulse-1.tar or something and I'm wondering if extracting that is going to need anything done differently.
[Motorola Photon 4G] eoliveira711:
It says in the op adb hasnt been tried not that adb isnt possible. Just tryin to contribute.

Sent from my Phony Droid
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
you will need to connect to the dock launch firefox open tools...download... from there it should be in the list...try and go to it by right clicking on the file and selecting open file location...if it is greyed out just download again and the archive app should open up from there highlight the file in the left window...select extract...it will ask you to where in the little window it should already say /tmp clear that out and replace with /var/tmp then click ok once it's done remove from the dock and runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
trust me when i tell you that you're not contributing in any way other than filling up a thread...you cannot mount /osh via adb hence the NOT POSSIBLE now stop arguing with me and go read something until your dock arrives or another mother method is released.
[Motorola Photon 4G] Custodian:
Lololololololol!!! Well ive contacted numerous big name developers from sense/hero/epic/nexus and a few miui developers i know personally..and basically their waiting on the bootloader to be unlocked before they storm thesr forums..also a new root method is in the works...the developer asked me not to give name to avoid spamms lololol...so theres alot in the works. Just heads up!!!
[Motorola Photon 4G] Custodian:
Has anyone with an sd card attempted to root using gingerbreak yet??
[Motorola Photon 4G] mikeyinid:
Yes. It doesnt work
[Motorola Photon 4G] evonate:
Sprint guy was watching me the whole time.... I finally just asked if he minded if I root my device. He said he did not mind. So I just did it. Woot!
[Motorola Photon 4G] Brooose:
When I did it, a couple of the Sprint people were with me and watching. They were totally cool about it. If you are near the Robinson, PA Sprint Store, use their dock. You will need to use the keyboard on your phone screen because their bluetooth keyboard is paired with the store phone.
[Motorola Photon 4G] mikeyinid:
I think you'd be surprised how often this would be the reps response...
[Motorola Photon 4G] Beknatok:
The folks like Yay, Edgan, Bane, and others, have been working very hard to try and find and exploit all numbers of vectors to get into the phone. I've been lurking in IRC where they've been coordinating their efforts, and have been working on methods that are even new to me, despite my Linux background.

If you really wish to contribute, hop onto IRC and talk directly with the players who have been involved on the front-lines.
[Motorola Photon 4G] eoliveira711:
No need to bee rude i.thought i could help. I need to learn more. Just kno the only dumb question is one the goes un asked. I appologize for fillin the post. I will read more an comment less

Sent from my Phony Droid
[Motorola Photon 4G] eoliveira711:
In so many words i was tryin to say ill be a tester if needed. I have 30 days of warranty

Sent from my Phony Droid
[Motorola Photon 4G] yglup:
People, i cant find an hd dock for this phone anywhere. Is this dock for the photon, atrix or xoom but interchangeable????
[Motorola Photon 4G] bricky23:
No, its for the photon. I purchased mine at sprint store. You can buy from sprint.com also I've seen it on amazon, but ships in 2 to 5 weeks.

Loving this Mopho!
[Motorola Photon 4G] yglup:
Hey a fellow Pittsburgher. Will they give me any issues with returning this?
[Motorola Photon 4G] sd7318:
Probably just normal questions but next time you guys need to buy from Best Buy in Robinson, I'm the mobile manager there, we pricematch :p

Also thanks for heads up on their dock, we don't carry it so need to get it there to root.
[Motorola Photon 4G] jwischka:
Xoom dock does not work. Connectors are correct but the phone doesn't fit on the dock itself.
[Motorola Photon 4G] twospirits:
Its not a matter of being rude. But you have to understand that the instructions on the first page is pretty straightforward, plus this thread is not like the other threads that run in the hundreds of pages so reading these 12 pages isn't too much to ask.

But since it seems that this is going to continue anyway, I took the liberty of creating a more thorough step by step with images for those that prefer more detail and hopefully this will curtail so many questions to the devs and leave them to continue working on these hacks instead of answering (the same ) questions.

Now mind you, I want to make it clear that even though I did the pdf below with images, all credit goes to member edgan for finding this exploit as well as giving us the instructions. So please donate if you can to his account (both listed in the first post of this thread as well as on the detailed step by step pdf below.

TS out

Photon Root Detailed Instructions by edgan with images.
[Motorola Photon 4G] jglee311:
Just got my Dock in today and don't have a dadgum HDMI monitor here at work. I'm beginning to feel a little....cough cough....sick....cough!!! May need to go....cough....home. ;)
[Motorola Photon 4G] tylerl:
If you can extract the tar and run the contained programs on your phone, then you'll have root. Most partitions are mounted noexec, though, so you'll have to come up with something clever.

Sent from my Photon. (pew pew pew!)
[Motorola Photon 4G] reddragon72:
So I have a few Q's

First a few pages back someone asked if sdcard gingerroot worked and there was one response "yes".... so if that works why is everyone still trying for a doc? I could be completely wrong on this but I did read that.

second when I ran the install-su.sh I received two errors. Superuser did go through though, but it was about some dir missing. Anyone else seen that?
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
please read the post again...says yes. doesn't work

a complete description of the error you got would be helpful to diagnose the problem
[Motorola Photon 4G] reddragon72:
see I told you can't read. lol

I tried running it again and didn't get the error, but it was something about a directory. Like I said SU seems to be running fine and I just renamed and copied some files and they all worked no problem. So I'm not sure if it was a big deal or not.
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
are you able to use apps like rootexplorer ?
[Motorola Photon 4G] reddragon72:
yea it's working and root explorer works and I just did the adb webtop hack and just used webtop on my monitor and it worked great!! This is really a bad arse phone!!!
[Motorola Photon 4G] agonzalez1010:
Quick and shameless. I was in and out of the Sprint store at around your estimated time. Nobody even bothered to ask me "How can I help you", they were all busy helping other customers. Going in at lunch time was the perfect time to get this done. Thanks alot!!!!!
[Motorola Photon 4G] Calkulin:
Well, if this is the only way to root for now, I guess I'm going to have to go buy a $100 piece of hardware that I'm not really going to use just to root this phone and start my usual developing :rolleyes:

EDIT:

I guess I should of read the thread because if it's that easy then I'll go tomorrow to do this
[Motorola Photon 4G] horn34:
HDMI to DVI adapter...$3 on amazon or ebay
[Motorola Photon 4G] Yay 4 Juggs:
Calk!!!!!! Welcome to the best damn cell phone period!!!
[Motorola Photon 4G] agrenwa:
Calkulin Hi and welcome, now that you're here I'm even more happy about buying the photon, looking forward to what you can come up for this great phone.
[Motorola Photon 4G] driguez:
Calku got a photon! Well I guess that made it much easier for me to decide which phone to get! :D I'm not too thrilled with the 3VO so photon here I come, hardware and everything
[Motorola Photon 4G] bluephi1914:
Man, I was a little worried about getting a photon without being able to root it... but all my issues are solved. i took a chance on it coming from the Evo, then Evo 3D and I havent looked back.

I still love the EVO 3D but this phone is pretty SOLID.

Is wifi tether still availible once the root complete like on the evos ????
[Motorola Photon 4G] bricky23:
Yes, there are a couple that work. Look in apparently section I believe.

Loving this Mopho!
[Motorola Photon 4G] driguez:
Auto-complete FTW XD